Case Study: Hahn Manufacturing Uses Coolescer To Reduce Costs & Enhance Safety
Coolant Clean-up at Precision Machine Shop Is Easy With Abanaki
In business since 1917, family-owned Hahn Manufacturing Company supplies precision prototype and production-machined parts for OEMs across the country. Its main facility in Cleveland, Ohio handles large precision-machined components for different industries, including power generation, power transmission, steel foundries and mining. A separate facility in nearby Newbury, Ohio is committed to precision machining of the smaller components.
Coolant Challenges & Costs
When the Newbury facility began experiencing leakage of tramp oil into its coolant, the company quickly began searching for a solution.
In addition to the unpleasant odor that oil-laden coolant produces, the cause of the problem—anaerobic bacteria that forms in the tank—can compromise the work environment. The resulting contaminated coolant can begin to smoke when it comes in contact with the heat from a cutting tool in operation. Moreover, as Hahn Manufacturing plant manager Gary Ott reveals, maintenance and disposal costs also can be of great concern.
"We were looking at changing the coolant every six months or so, which, in a 50 gallon tank of metal-working fluid, can become very costly very fast," Ott said.
The costs of proper disposal were proving to be even more prohibitive than those associated with shortened coolant life. "Disposal expenses were becoming even greater than the cost of replacing the tank with entirely new fluid," he acknowledged.
Abanaki's Cost-effective Answer
The company turned to Abanaki Corporation for an effective method to reduce all of these costs. Abanaki has a history of handling oil contaminants both in the manufacturing industry in general and at Hahn Manufacturing in specific.
According to Ott, Hahn Manufacturing had purchased a Mighty Mini oil skimmer for one of their production lines a few years ago. When approached about the current contaminant problem, Abanaki suggested one of its latest innovations, the Coolescer.
"We were very happy with the performance of the Mighty Mini, but the Coolescer works even better in this particular situation—if that's possible," Ott revealed.
How It Works
The Coolescer was developed specifically for ergonomic and efficient operation in machine shops, even those with particularly harsh applications—an attribute to which Ott can attest. "We really put it to the test, with a first run on a particularly tough application that yielded a lot of sediment. The Coolescer worked great and ensured the tramp oil was separated from the coolant with no hassle."
The relatively compact, self-contained system mounts right to the tank. Oil laden coolant is pumped into a main containment drum where oxygen is introduced via an aeration pump. The mixture is then pumped through a coalescing cartridge to separate the oil from the coolant.
The separated oil remains at the surface of the drum and is removed through a special oil discharge valve while the cleaned coolant is pumped back to the coolant sump through a separate discharge port.
Bottom-Line Benefits
The unit is designed to extend coolant life, reduce disposal costs, eliminate down time, and improve tool life. Because the system is self-contained and requires no worker interaction, the Coolescer also helps prevent such worker-related problems as dermatitis. Hahn Manufacturing already has seen most of these benefits, experiencing significant savings in recycling and disposal as well as an extended time frame for changing the coolant. Perhaps Gary Ott sums it up best. "The Coolescer has already paid for itself," he says.
SOURCE: Abanaki Corporation - Oil Skimmer Division